This Sunday’s match-up against Richmond was a fixture highlighted early on as being critical to determining how successful a season the Mavericks could expect to achieve. Seeing as they are a large, superbly run outfit and
had
a measure of success
last
year, most of the team were both eagerly anticipating, yet at the same
time dreading the 1st of the back-to-back games. Despite
coming into this game winning 4 out of our last 5 games it seemed that
Richmond could not be knocked off their pedestal after remaining
undefeated since the start of the season.
The
initial weather reflected the general mood of the Guildford away camp,
being quite sombre but with the promise of better things to come on the
horizon. Given the manner of our most recent defeat, and the challenge
we knew facing us, we came into this game with a lot of focus and quiet
determination. This became most noticeable in the opening inning when we
calmly took to the field after a quiet opening at-bat.
After
a scoreless 1st inning, the Mavericks managed to get a couple
of runners on the bases which Joe Bibby secured as the opening runs,
after hitting a superb shot (painful though it is to admit) into right
field, which ended up being a triple. The top of the inning ended soon
afterwards and Richmond proceeded to have their most
successful rally of the game, turning in a respectable 4 runs. The
deficit could have been worse if not for the excellent pitching from
Kevin Zanes and the solid defensive work from the rest of the Mavericks’
infield and outfield.
The
fourth inning ended up being one of the pivotal points in the match.
Despite being 3 runs behind, the Mavericks determination held true, and
managed to pull off a massive 9 run rally. This came about through some
smart batting and base running. Each respective batter worked the
pitcher through the count and hit for contact, not the fences. Everyone
played their part this inning as we went through
the
full line-up with only 1 out lost. Instead of crumbling to the mounting
pressure issued by the Mavericks, Richmond, true to form, managed to
claw back a few well earned runs in the bottom of the inning finishing
it up at 11-7.
The
Mavericks began the 5th inning with Richmond making a series
of changes to their lineup, and facing a new pitcher with a completely
different array of pitches. Whereas the opening pitcher they faced threw
consistently accurate medium-fast paced pitches, Matt Bruce made us
aware that we were likely to face “curve balls, curve balls, followed by
even more curve balls!!!” This comment could not have been more true.
These
changes didn’t hamper the Mavericks momentum at all. With some more
disciplined work at the plate, the Mavericks were able to take advantage
of the pitcher before he was able to settle in. The highlights of the
five run inning undoubtedly came from Mike Burdett when he managed to
smack a solo shot over the left field fence and from Rob Shaw when he
batted in all 3 runners after slugging the ball just shy of the centre
field fence.
The
Mavericks line-up made a couple of changes with the aim of tightening up
an already strong infield with fresh players in the form of Owen Hazelby
and James Guerra (yeah baby!). The close of that inning proved to be the
killing blow to Richmond’s morale, as we shut them down with some good
infield play (ignore initial fielding error please) and a lovely pick
off
move to 2nd baseman, moi, from Kevin. Although
the Dragons never gave up, they never managed to get a rally going
beyond bringing in the odd run here or there. This really came down to a
combination of things, but pre-eminently among them had to be good
defense. We got the outs where we could and limited the oppositions
scoring opportunities as a result. The final score ended of being only
1 run off a mercy rule 19-10.
Special mentions need to be made to the following players, as although collectively we played exceptionally there were a few who stood out from the pack.
1st
mention goes to John “Mr. Reliable” Kristensen. He got everyone
organized, kept them focused by being very vocal and led a very solid
defensive line in the infield. Offensively he was even more consistent,
leading most of the individual stats for the day including hits, steals
(tied with Kevin), and RBIs. Nearly hit for the cycle if not for the
talented Richmond left fielder denying him what probably would have been
a homerun.
Next in line, Rob Shaw, although kept relatively quiet in the outfield, when called upon he delivered, what has to be considered one of the catches of the season, a superb over the shoulder catch at an important moment which, combined with his clutch hitting today, really made a significant difference to the result.
What’s left to say about monsieur Zanes? He pitched a full 9 inning game, threw 156 pitches, over half of which were strikes and ended up with 14 strikeouts. A great outing in any pitchers scrapbook, let alone against the previously undefeated Richmond Dragons.
As previously mentioned everyone contributed to today’s win, from the players on the field, to the manager and supporting team mates. All in all a fantastic victory fully deserved. Let’s make sure we keep momentum going forward to next week’s home match against Richmond and give them another sound thrashing, as they will be looking for blood. With that in mind I’ll finish up this report with an appropriate quote from ol’ Bill Shakespeare, let’s “Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!”Thanks to James Guerra for the report and Owen Hazelby for the photos
